1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of ship design and construction. More specifically the present invention relates to a water craft preferably in the form of a ship and constructed of at least three closed gas containers fastened into close lateral proximity to define an interstitial space between the containers which functions as a ship hold for retaining cargo, crew or passengers. The gas containers preferably are all tubes having substantially circular cross-sections and preferably being fastened together by a looped outer skin of sheet wrap material, which also protects the tubes from damaging sunlight and from high speed water friction. The hull tubes preferably have upwardly angling hull tube forward ends to approximate the conventional shape of a ship bow and have downwardly angling hull tube rearward ends. In the preferred configuration, two hull tubes rest on the water surface and a third cover tube is centered over and nests on top of and between the two hull tubes, and the hull tubes preferably are laterally spaced apart to increase hold space. The tubes thus both form the overall structure of the ship and also provide the necessary buoyancy for the ship to float.
A hull shell preferably formed of aluminum is fastened underneath and cradles and retains the hull tubes to add structural integrity to the ship and to provide a rugged, durable hull of a shape suited to the surface characteristics of the body of water to be crossed.
Ordinary buoyancy preferably is increased to extreme buoyancy by filling the tubes with a lighter-than-air gas such as helium. The buoyancy added by the use of helium reduces the draft of the ship and thus reduces drag so that the ship can travel at very high speed and hydroplane and can carry a heavier cargo or passenger load with a certain given level of propulsive power. The ship preferably is driven by two counter rotating propellers.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
For millennia there have been ships for carrying cargo and passengers over various bodies of water. A problem with conventional ships of contemporary design has been their slow speed compared with air and land transport vehicles. Faster water craft have long existed, such as small, high powered speed boats, air boats and hydrofoils, but have not been suited to large scale transport. Simply placing a large engine on a conventional cargo or passenger ship is not entirely practical, because the deep draft of the ship hull creates a great deal of drag and makes the energy costs excessive, while not achieving sufficient speed to compete with alternative forms of rapid transport. Hydrofoil boats can achieve high speed by lifting the hull out of the water and minimizing drag, but do not operate efficiently at full ship size.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a water craft for carrying cargo or passengers which has a very slight draft so that the craft can move through the water with extremely minimal drag, so that high speed can be achieved with a full load and with minimal fuel consumption.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a water craft which achieves an exceptionally shallow draft by retaining large quantities of a lighter-than-air gas.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a water craft which can be built on a large scale economically, in the form of laterally adjacent parallel tubes formed of light sheet material enclosing between them a hold area.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a water craft in which a cover tube is provided and nests on top of and between lower hull tubes and thus both closes and seals the hold area to keep out rain and sun and also adds buoyancy because of lighter-than-air gas.